Japanese guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto started out as a banjo player in his home city of Kyoto, teaching himself to play by listening to the only bluegrass record he owned, Earl Scruggs’ “Foggy Mountain ...

Bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs was born 100 years ago this week, and the tributes to the banjo picker have been many. On Friday, Tony Trischka, himself a banjo disciple of Scruggs, released a ...

Blues, country, folk, and hip-hop music relate in more ways than you know. Blues, country, folk, and hip-hop music relate in more ways than you know. One of the main instruments, used is county music ...

Beyonce’s hit “Texas Hold ’Em” opens with a beat seldom heard on hip-hop tracks: the unmistakable clip-clop of a four-stringed clawhammer banjo. It comes via folk icon Rhiannon Giddens, who was ...

In this two-part special of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka sits down with renowned blues musician Otis Taylor for an intimate and dynamic conversation.

Pop superstar Beyoncé released "Texas Hold 'Em" a few weeks ago and it features an instrument that she had never emphasized before. This hit song, on her new (and hugely popular) Cowboy Carter album, ...

The Chaco-clad, North Face-toting students don’t seem to notice the slow trickle of people entering the auditorium. Sprawled in hammocks or bustling to class, the Appalachian State University ...

If folk/blues singer Elizabeth Cotten never wrote another song other than the enduring classics “Freight Train” and “Shake Sugaree,” she would still be famous in the annals of American roots music.

In Part 2 of our conversation with legendary blues musician Otis Taylor, we dive deeper into his artistic journey, his distinctive trance blues style, and the historical and cultural significance of ...